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Family Law
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:[2]
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Marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships:
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Entry into legally recognized spousal and domestic relationships[1]
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The termination of legally recognized family relationships and ancillary matters, including divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony, child custody and visitation, child support and alimony awards[3]
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Adoption: proceedings to adopt a child and, in some cases, an adult.[4]
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Surrogacy: the law and process of giving birth as a surrogate mother[5]
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Child protective proceedings: court proceedings that may result from state intervention in cases of child abuse and child neglect[6]
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Juvenile law: Matters relating to minors including status offenses, delinquency, emancipation and juvenile adjudication[7]
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Paternity: proceedings to establish and disestablish paternity, and the administration of paternity testing[8]
This list is not exhaustive and varies depending on jurisdiction.
Divorce and Dissolution
In the state of California, either party to a marriage may file for divorce. Such dissolution of marriage restores the prior husband and wife to single status in the law. Irreconcilable differences and incurable insanity are each grounds for divorce, summary dissolution of a marriage or a binding legal separation. An annulment is a legal judgment that no legal marriage was entered into and requirements are much more stringent for such a petition.
A divorce may be contested or uncontested. A contested divorce is one in which the parties disagree over the terms of dissolution, such as child custody, visitation, child support, post separation support, spousal support, alimony or division of marital assets.
There may be disputes over which assets and/or debts should be attributed as marital and which are separately owned by spouses during the marriage. A contested divorce may require mediation and/or court hearings to resolve.
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